The Inside Line Podcast - Vital MTB

Sponsel loses so you can win.

I's been a busy few months since the last podcast—Jason went to New Zealand and Italy, Tanner has been to nearly all 50 states working different shoots and projects, and Dakotah has bounced between Europe and Tennessee as he feverishly tests every setup under the sun. 
We covered a lot of this show, including Dak's crash at the Tennessee National, getting outside of the box with setup, Reece Wilson's crazy stem/bar combo, gym training vs. on-bike training, and goals at the first World Cup. But mostly, we caught up on life because we don't see each other enough these days, and the podcast is the perfect excuse to banter and hang out. We hope you enjoy!

Today we talk with Matt Thompson and Steve Wentz who just returned from Masters World Champs downhill in Chile. Matt took the rainbow stripes in the 50-55 Master C2 class and Steve landed a Top 10 in a stacked field of “younger” talent, most importantly beating Ben Deakin in the process.

We dive into what Masters World Champs is, learn about their experiences with the event over the years and dig into the full story of this years’ race. As a bonus, they both came home in one piece.

RockShox Zeb fork is all-new for model year 2027. They’ve taken what they learned developing the latest Boxxer, and have applied many of the same technologies and tuning ideologies to their single-crown, gravity fork.

Vital editor, Jason Schroeder, has spent the past few months testing the fork and runs you through everything that’s new, and how it’s performed so far.
More info - https://www.vitalmtb.com/forums/hub/2027-rockshox-zeb-fork-tech-info-impressions-discussion 
0:00 - Intro
0:25 - Chassis Updates
0:46 - New fenders
1:05 - New pressure relief valves
1:16 - Linear XL air spring details
1:42 - AirAnnex chamber
2:01 - new Adjustable Bottom Out (ABO) feature
2:51 - New stanchions detail
3:08 - ButterWagon Tech - divots in the stanchion
3:31 - Charger 3.2 damper updates
3:38 - Oil, seals, grease updates
4:20 - Zeb Product Line
5:06 - Setting up the new Zeb
5:25 - Damper settings
6:10 - Air pressure settings
6:56 - Linear XL air spring positives
7:49 - Linear XL air spring negatives
8:34 - ABO impressions 
10:05 - Zeb's versatility 
10:46 - Bottom Line on the new Zeb

Elite race day at the first event of the 2026  @prodownhillseries was a heater at Ride Rock Creek bike park in North Carolina as downhill mountain bikers put it all on the line for victory. Listen to the post-race interviews with Luca Cometti.

Interviews
0:00 - Lucas Dedora
1:11 - Final Elite Men Finishes
2:07 - Luca Shaw, Elite Men's Winner
3:07 - Ryder Lawrence
3:43 - Aletha Ostgaard, Elite Women's Winner
5:37 - Eliot Jackson
7:05 - Kai Burleson
8:20 - Dante Silva
12:04 - Podium Shots
12:17 - Tilly Melton
13:11 - Ryan Pinkerton
14:06 - Mallen Bro
15:15 - Kailey Skelton
17:05 - Alden Pate
17:57 - Andrew Driscoll

#USDH